The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has partnered with Anheuser-Busch for the fifth year to provide canned drinking water to volunteer fire departments that respond to wildfires. The Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program will provide 1.5 million cans of clean drinking water to departments in 2023 to help them be ready for wildfires and other long incidents.
Hydration is critical to keep firefighters at their best during wildfire response and protect them from heat-related illness and injury. The water donation program helps departments meet this need while allowing them to save critical funds for other resources and necessities. The program is an expansion of Anheuser-Busch’s longstanding tradition of providing emergency drinking water and supplies for disaster relief efforts. Since partnering with the NVFC in 2019, Anheuser-Busch has distributed 6.5 million cans of water to more than 1,400 departments across nearly all 50 states.
To apply for the emergency drinking water, departments must be located in the U.S., annually respond to wildfires, be over 50 percent volunteer, and serve a population of 25,000 or less. Departments in declared emergencies due to wildfire will also be able to request water outside of the application period to help with their immediate wildfire response needs.
The general application period is open through March 31. Visit www.nvfc.org/waterto apply and learn more about the program.